😱 Lookman, Icardi, Costa-Conte, Dembélé: when stars disappear 🧨

The disappearance of Ademola Lookman from Atalanta’s radar has brought back a phenomenon that is not rare in modern football: that of players who voluntarily disappear, without warning anyone, to force a transfer or to rebel against an unpleasant situation.

Lookman is just the latest in a long list of “desaparecidos” in football, alongside champions like Tevez, Ronaldinho, Anelka, and Icardi.

Some do it as a protest, others for money, and others simply… because of their character. And they’re not just footballers. Let’s look at the most absurd and sensational cases.

Ademola Lookman, fresh from being a hero in the Europa League won with Atalanta, did not show up for the resumption of training and did not provide explanations. According to reports, the Nigerian winger feels betrayed by the club, which had promised him a transfer to PSG last summer — a transfer that never arrived.

Now he’s aiming for Inter and wants to force their hand. The Nerazzurri are watching, Atalanta is getting stubborn, and he… disappears into thin air.

In 2011, Carlos Tevez refused to enter the field against Bayern Munich. Mancini publicly accused him, Manchester City suspended him, and he… took a plane to Argentina, where he stayed for five months.

No permission, no authorization: just silence and fines. He will return with difficulty, apologizing, but his relationship with the club will be compromised. His case remains one of the most famous “voluntary exiles” in English football.

Nicolas Anelka at Real Madrid couldn’t find peace. Arriving for a record fee in 1999, he didn’t score, was isolated by his teammates, and became depressed. One day, he simply disappeared: 10 days without training, without answers, without public appearances.

The club fined him, he returned, scored two decisive goals in the Champions League… and then was sold. A story of talent, loneliness, and misunderstandings.

Mauro Icardi’s case is one of the most media-covered. Inter took away his captain’s armband in 2019, after tensions over contract renewal and poisonous social media posts (with the help of Wanda Nara).

Icardi stopped training, skipped games, and disappeared for weeks. He will return, score, but it’s already with his bags packed. In the summer, he will fly to PSG. A announced goodbye… with ghosting included.

Ronaldinho, after Milan, landed at Flamengo. It seemed like love, but it didn’t last long. He skipped training, was seen more in nightclubs than at the sports center, and eventually disappeared for real: he sued the club for unpaid wages and vanished.

No one knew where he ended up. Then he reappeared, signing for Atletico Mineiro. Magic, yes, but also chaos.

In 2017, Ousmane Dembélé forced his transfer to Barcelona by disappearing from Borussia Dortmund’s training for two weeks. He was in France, waiting for the Blaugrana call.

The transfer happened, but that escape marked his career: at Barça, between injuries and inconsistency, he never managed to fully convince. When you start like that, it’s hard to change the narrative.

“You’re not in my plans,” Conte wrote to Diego Costa. The striker responded… by disappearing. He stayed in Brazil for months, accusing Chelsea of bullying and refusing to return.

A personal — and phone — battle that only ended with his return to Atletico Madrid.

In 2017, Niang wanted the Premier League, not Torino. So he started showing up at Milanello only when he felt like it. Mihajlovic, who had launched him, declared himself disappointed: “He’s living like a spoiled boy”.

In the end, he accepted Torino, but his character remained the same. And the Granata experience ended badly.

Not just players. Marco Giampaolo, after a controversy with Brescia fans in 2013, resigned and disappeared. No calls, phone disconnected, no communication.

His brother will be the one to calm everyone down. Weeks later, he will explain: “I don’t accept having to account to the fans, it’s a matter of dignity”.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

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